Thirst for Life and a Reckless Abandon: Talking with The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik Author David Arnold

I’m obsessed with your weird, wonderful book. It has an incredible concept at its heart, but there’s a lot more to Noah’s story than the uncanny weirdness he’s dealing with. What element of the book came into view for you first?
Thank you! I would say the first element came in 2010— I was on a cruise ship with my wife and one of the evening performers was a hypnotist, and I thought, what if one of these people woke up in a different reality? The idea evolved over time, but that was the seed. It takes me two years to write a book, so whenever I have an idea I have to ask myself if that idea is something that will maintain my interest for two years. In this case, for a long time the answer was no. The turning point hit when I considered writing a protagonist who felt they were changing (internally) while everyone around them remained the same; and then post-hypnosis, everyone around the protagonist changed (externally), while the protagonist remained the same. At that point, I was in.
One of Noah’s constants in his weirdly shifting life is his David Bowie love (including his daily “uniform” that involves a Bowie T-shirt). What were your pop-culture constants when you were a teen, and what are they now?
Gah, I was such a nerd. I went through a lot phases, which I know is nothing new, but I think I maybe went through more than most. I was always trying to reinvent myself based on my understanding of being cool. Which is bad enough, but even worse when you have Teenage David’s understanding of being cool. True to the ’90s, I went through a full-on grunge phase where I wore flannel and a chain wallet, and I grew my hair out and shaved it underneath, and I pretended to love Pearl Jam, and I lied about having a skateboard. So that was a lot of fun for my parents, probably. In my adulthood, my pop culture mainstays on the music side would include Elliott Smith, Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens. Television favorites are The West Wing, Gilmore Girls, The X-Files. And I’m pretty obsessed with Mindy Kaling—The Mindy Project, and just in general.

One theme I see across your books is that of displacement/disorientation. Why is that such an enduring theme in young adult lit? 
I remember my teenage years on a visceral level in part because it was a time of life where things felt disorienting. Innocence is out the window, what was cool yesterday is corny today, your parents aren’t omnipotent superheroes, as it turns out, your body (or mine, at least) seems to be simultaneously sprouting and wilting, and it’s just a lot to take in, and a short amount of time in which to take it. It’s like they hand you a whole new playbook for a game you were just starting to get the hang of. I’ve never sat down and decided to write a book for teens, just a book that is my most honest self at the time. So maybe because my own teenage experience felt so disorienting, those are the most honest characters I can write.
What kind of reader were you as a teen? (You have such faith in your readers, it makes me think you were an omnivorous kid.)
I think I can answer this for you in two words: Jurassic Park. In eighth grade, I read that book probably a dozen times in a row. Finish it, start it, just like that. I don’t know what it was, just something about it—which is another way of trying to articulate the magic of your favorite book, I guess. As far as having faith in my readers, I’ve always felt I’d rather err on the side of subtlety. (This, from the writer who just admitted his obsession with a story about an island full of escaped, man-eating dinos, but there it is, my many multitudes.) For me, as a reader, there’s nothing worse than feeling the author try to guide me through something I already get. So as a writer, I always try to give the reader the benefit of the doubt.
This is your third novel. Can you talk about your writing process and how it has changed and/or developed across your three books?
I wrote my first book while I was the stay-at-home dad of a newborn son. It was a wild ride, let me tell you. You basically write where you can, when you can, however you can. I always tried to write while he napped, but as any stay-at-home parent of a new baby will tell you—naptime is contagious. So I ended up making a deal with myself: either I’d write when he napped, or I’d nap when he napped, and then stay up late to write. Also, for any stay-at-home writer who can’t afford decent childcare, but who has a YMCA membership, listen up: The Y has free two-hour daycare, and while they don’t let you leave the premises, they can’t make you work out. I probably wrote half of Mosquitoland in the YMCA lobby, which is why it’s hard for me when someone says, “I’d love to write if only I had the time.” This is my job now, so yes, I have time. But back then, I sure didn’t. Wherever, whenever, however. Writers make time. 

Your books have an interest in found and made families, and, unless the internet is lying to me, you have some delightful friendships with other YA authors. Can you talk a bit about your writer-friend community, and how important it is to have one as an author?
The internet would never lie to you! But yes, you are right, I am very fortunate to have developed some real friendships over the course of the last few years. I’ve never been white-water rafting, but from what I can tell, it is simultaneously awesome and terrifying. And that’s publishing a novel. So it helps having other people on (in?) your raft. We just finalized my Noah tour schedule and I’m so excited because so many of my friends will be joining me at various events. It’s just hard to imagine doing this without them. I’m not sure I’d want to. 
Your books, in their basic plots, are all so different. But what would you say are their family resemblances?
I love this question. Probably some element of home? Mosquitoland and Kids of Appetite were both quest books, but I don’t think Noah fits that bill. They all have close friendships, though again, Noah is different as he’s had the same best friends for years, whereas ML and KoA both had newly made friendships. I will say, I try to write books that feel like Arcade Fire songs, by which I mean a thirst for life, reckless abandon, a sort of get-up-and-go quality to them. So maybe that’s it. Get-up-and-go-ness.
What have you been reading and loving lately?
I recently read and adored Picture Us in the Light, by Kelly Loy Gilbert. I also just finished my fourth reread of Jason Reynolds’ For Every One, which is to dreaming what Stephen King’s On Writing is to craft. On the adult side, I recently read and loved All Our Wrong Todays, by Elan Mastai.
The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik is on sale now.